A dramatic rescue has taken place at Bloody Bridge when a foal was recovered alive from a quarry.
The little brown and white foal was taken to safety from Crannoge Quarry by animal welfare officer and a vet with the team from Mournes Heritage Trust.
But it took two days and a community effort to save her.
A call for help went up when walkers came across the problem while walking and realised the foal would die if left alone.
They hatched a plan with Newry and Mournee council's animal welfare team and two days later, the foal was off the hill, safe in a horse yard and being well looked after.
One of the local helpers, said: "It was heartbreaking to see her by her mum who had died and she didn't know all we wanted to do was help.
"It took two days and a sleepless night, but with a lot of help from volunteers in the community, the vet and Mountain Rescue, we got her to safety.
"Now she even has a lovely name - Crannog Eibhie.
"She will be loved and looked after now and we'll give you an update on how she's getting on in a few weeks. She's very young to have lost her mum, the vet reckons she's about two months old. But she's strong and willful and we hope with the care she's getting, that will see her through."
A spokesperson said: "The team rescued this foal from the Crannoge quarry in the Bloody Bridge area of the Mournes today.
"It was quite a task. Unfortunately her mother had died and she was extremely agitated and elusive."
On Thursday Mourne Mountain Rescue Team warned the public to stay away from the area as they worked out a plan to rescue the foal.
A spokeman said: "We received a request for assistance in relation to an injured horse. The horse was with a foal and in an area difficult to access for a normal response.
"Unfortunately the horse had already died which in turn had left the foal vulnerable. In conjunction with an Animal Welfare Officer, vet and supporting volunteers, several attempts were made to recover the foal.
Unfortunately it was deemed unsafe to continue today due to the risk to both the rescue party and the foal.
"With the foal in no immediate danger, the various parties are considering the best plan of action.
"Until this is resolved, we’d ask walkers to avoid the Crannog Quarry area to reduce stress to the foal or causing hinderance to those trying to resolve the situation. A total of 4 team members responded and stood down at 1950hrs."
The teams returned to the area and managed to get the foal off to safety and have confirmed that a safe home has been found for her to settle into.
